Mobile communication terminal, selection method for destination of communication, and computer program for mobile communication terminal

ABSTRACT

A mobile telephone (mobile communication terminal) ( 100 ) searches data sections ( 11 - 1  to  11 n) of the address book ( 10 ) based on attribute information (ATTm) inputted by a user through an operation unit ( 207 ) in order to contact a desired communication counterpart to thereby retrieve identification information (ID, names) associated with the attribute information. Further, the mobile telephone ( 100 ) sets a telephone number or an e-mail address, which is associated with the retrieved identification information in the address book ( 10 ), as a destination of communication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a technical field of a mobilecommunication terminal such as a mobile telephone, and more particularlyto a technical field of a mobile communication terminal capable ofstoring at least one of a destination of communication and a source ofcommunication.

2. Description of the Related Art

Up to now, mobile telephones have come into wide use, with which voicecommunications can easily be performed even while on the road. Inparticular, in recent years, the mobile telephones are being put to awider range of uses not only for voice communications but also ascommunication terminals for performing send and receive (to be simplyreferred to as send/receive) of e-mails and data communications.

However, in the case of using such a mobile telephone provided withcommunication functions to send e-mails with identical contents to aplurality of destination addresses, a user must repeat a designationoperation for each of the destination addresses to which the e-mails areto be sent. In addition, depending on the specifications of the mobiletelephone, limitations may be imposed on the number of destinationaddresses that can be designated at a time to a single e-mail with theidentical contents.

Thus, a user may find it troublesome to operate a mobile telephone forsending e-mails with identical contents to a plurality of destinationaddresses.

Further, there is a communication terminal (mobile telephone) having afunction of storing incoming e-mails by allocating the e-mails to eachcorresponding folder. In that case, a user needs to designate, forexample, an e-mail address of a source of communication to each folderto which the e-mail is to be stored.

Proposed in JP 2002-244984A is an e-mail management device thateliminates a user's operation for e-mail allocation.

Specifically, the above-mentioned e-mail management device includesstorage means for registering and managing e-mail address informationand one of group information that defines an incoming e-mail storagearea for each group and individual information that defines an incominge-mail storage area for each individual. The e-mail management deviceextracts e-mail address information from the source of communication ofan incoming e-mail, and compares the extracted e-mail addressinformation with e-mail address information that is previouslyregistered in the storage means. Then, if the comparison resultsindicate that the information coincides with each other, the e-mailmanagement device stores the incoming e-mail by automatically allocatingit to the incoming e-mail storage area that is previously associatedwith the group information or individual information registered in thestorage means.

Proposed in JP 2001-358823 A is a mobile telephone that can store in itsmemory a plurality of telephone numbers corresponding to a single nameand information for discriminating each of the telephone numbers.

Specifically, the above-mentioned mobile telephone includes a memorythat stores phonebook data in which a name of an individual isassociated with a plurality of telephone numbers corresponding to thename, an operation unit for inputting an instruction, and a control unitfor retrieving the phonebook data from the memory based on theinstruction. In the mobile telephone, the memory further storesinformation for discriminating each of the plurality of telephonenumbers corresponding to the name. As a result of performing retrievalin response to the instruction to retrieve the phonebook data which hasbeen inputted by the operation unit, the control unit successivelydisplays the telephone numbers and information for discriminating thetelephone numbers which are stored in the memory.

Proposed in JP 2003-052071 A is a mobile telephone that is capable ofsending e-mails with identical contents (for example, an e-mail fornotification of change in e-mail address) to a plurality of destinationswith ease.

Specifically, in the case where an e-mail address is changed or othersuch cases, the above-mentioned mobile telephone collectively sendse-mails with identical contents to all or selected part of a pluralityof addresses included in phonebook data stored in a memory and aplurality of addresses included in the data of e-mails that have alreadybeen sent/received.

Proposed in JP 10-164210 A is a mobile telephone that can store in itsmemory a plurality of telephone numbers corresponding to a single nameand information for discriminating each of the telephone numbers.

Specifically, in the above-mentioned mobile telephone, a memory stores aplurality of telephone numbers corresponding to a name of an individualas phonebook data. In response to an instruction inputted from anoperation part, a control part retrieves the phonebook data from thememory to thereby extract the plurality of telephone numbers storedcorresponding to an instructed name, and successively originates a callto the plurality of extracted destinations.

Proposed in JP 2001-117883 A is a technique for exchanging name cardinformation converted in an electronic format between mobile telephonesin a wireless communication system such as one using infrared rays.

The conventional mobile telephones have the following problems. That is,there is known a function of recording identification information(including a person's name and a company's name) for specifying adestination of communication in an address book on a basis of a groupset by a user. In this case, by searching a group set in a mobiletelephone, identification information corresponding to a targetdestination of communication can be extracted. However, in the casewhere an identical destination of communication is to belong to aplurality of groups, it becomes necessary to record the identicaldestination of communication in every group.

Alternatively, there is a mobile telephone having a function of allowinga predetermined number of (for example, up to five) e-mail addresses tobe registered as one group address. In such a mobile telephone, when auser selects the group address for a destination address upon sending ane-mail, e-mail addresses for the predetermined number are extracted forthe destination address of a single e-mail with identical contents.However, depending on the specifications of the mobile telephone, anoperation for registering addresses for the group address needs to beperformed separately from a registration operation for an address book.Further, even with such a mobile telephone having a group addressfunction, there is a case where a plurality of group addresses cannot bedesignated as the destination address upon sending an e-mail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentionedproblems, and therefore has an object to improve operability for a userin a communication function provided to a mobile communication terminalby utilizing identification information for indicating at least one of adestination of communication and a source of communication and pluralpieces of attribute information registered in association withinformation registered for each piece of the identification information.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a mobile communicationterminal according to the present invention is characterized byincluding the following configurations.

Note that reference numerals and symbols within parentheses are addedfor clarifying correspondences between the descriptions in the appendedclaims and in the section “detailed description of the preferredembodiments”. However, those reference numerals and symbols should notbe used for defining the technical scope of the present inventiondescribed in the appended claims.

According to the present invention, there is provided a mobilecommunication terminal for making a telephone call to a telephone numberor sending an e-mail to an e-mail address, the telephone number and thee-mail address each being selected by a user as a destination ofcommunication for a desired counterpart from a storage area storing atleast one of the telephone number and the e-mail address.

A mobile communication terminal (100) according to the present inventionis characterized by comprising:

input means (207) allowing the user to input:

-   -   identification information (20) representing a communication        counterpart that can be at least one of a destination of        communication and a source of communication,    -   attribute information (ATTm) allowing the user to specify the        communication counterpart, and    -   at least one of the telephone number and the e-mail address as        the destination for the communication counterpart;

storage means for storing the identification information, the attributeinformation, and at least one of the telephone number and the e-mailaddress, which are inputted through the input means, in the storage area(205) in association with one another; and

communication control means (203, ST1, ST2, and ST4) for, by searchingthe storage area based on one of the attribute information inputted bythe user, retrieving the identification information associated with theinputted attribute information, and setting one of the telephone numberand the e-mail address, which is associated with the retrievedidentification information, as the destination of communication.

Further, in a preferred embodiment, it is characterized in that:

in addition to the identification information, a first attributeinformation allowing specification of the communication counterpart, andat least one of the telephone number and the e-mail address as thedestination for the communication counterpart, the input means furtherallows input of a second attribute information (ATTc) allowing the userto specify the destination;

when the second attribute information is inputted through the inputmeans, the storage means stores the second attribute information in thestorage area in association with at least one of the telephone numberand the e-mail address; and

the communication control means includes:

-   -   a first retrieval means for, by searching the storage area based        on one of the first attribute information inputted by the user,        retrieving the identification information associated with the        first attribute information;    -   a second retrieval means for, by searching the storage area        based on one of the second attribute information inputted by the        user, retrieving at least one of the telephone number and the        e-mail address, which is associated with the second attribute        information, from a telephone number and an e-mail address which        are stored along with the identification information obtained by        the first retrieval means; and    -   communication destination setting means for setting one of the        telephone number and the e-mail address, which is retrieved by        the second retrieval means, as the destination of communication.

Further, to attain the same object described above, according to anotheraspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobilecommunication terminal characterized by including:

input means (207) allowing the user to input:

-   -   identification information (20) representing a communication        counterpart that can be at least one of a destination of        communication and a source of communication,    -   at least one of the telephone number and the e-mail address as        the destination for the communication counterpart, and    -   attribute information (ATTc) allowing the user to specify the        destination;

storage means for storing the identification information, the attributeinformation, and at least one of the telephone number and the e-mailaddress, which are inputted through the input function, in the storagearea (205) in association with one another; and

communication control means (203, Sa2 to Sa5, and Sb2 to Sb5) for, bysearching the storage area based on one of the attribute informationinputted by the user, retrieving one of the telephone number and thee-mail address associated with the inputted attribute information, andsetting one of the retrieved telephone number and the e-mail address asthe destination of communication.

Preferably, in the above structure, when one of the telephone number andthe e-mail address is set as the destination of communication, thecommunication control means:

displays the identification information associated with the attributeinformation inputted by the user on a display unit (208) (Sa2 and Sa3);and

retrieves one of the telephone number and the e-mail address associatedwith a specific piece of the identification information selected by theuser from the displayed identification information with only thespecific piece of the identification information being used as a searchtarget and sets one of the retrieved telephone number and e-mail addressas the destination of communication (Sa 4 and Sa5).

Alternatively, in a preferred embodiment, when one of the telephonenumber and the e-mail address is set as the destination ofcommunication, the communication control means:

Retrieving, by searching the storage area based on a specific piece ofidentification information representing the communication counterpartinputted by the user, all pieces of the attribute information associatedwith the specific piece of identification information,

displays (Sb3) the retrieved all pieces of the attribute information ona display unit (208),

retrieves (Sb4, sb5) one of the telephone number and the e-mail addressassociated with a specific piece of the attribute information selectedby the user from the displayed attribute information with only theselected specific piece of the attribute information being used as asearch target, and

sets one of the retrieved telephone number and e-mail address as thedestination of communication.

Note that the above-mentioned object is also achieved by a selectionmethod for a destination of communication which is used in the mobilecommunication terminals having the above-mentioned respectiveconfigurations.

Further, the above-mentioned object is achieved by the mobilecommunication terminals having the above-mentioned respectiveconfigurations, a software program that causes a computer to execute theselection method for a destination of communication, and a storagemedium that stores the software program and can be read by a computer.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile telephone100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a storage area structure of an address book10 stored in a hold memory 205 according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining relationships amongattributes (attribute information ATTm) according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an e-mail sending processing performed on themobile telephone 100 according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram in which the relationships among the attributesexemplified in FIG. 3 are expressed in the form of a folder structure ofan e-mail inbox according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an e-mail receiving processing performed onthe mobile telephone 100 according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile telephone101 according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows an example of a storage area structure of an address book30 stored in the hold memory 205 according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an e-mail sending processing performed on themobile telephone 100 according to the fourth embodiment along with anoperation procedure for a user (for sending an e-mail in response to anattribute selecting operation); and

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of another e-mail sending processing performedon the mobile telephone 100 according to the fourth embodiment alongwith another operation procedure for a user (for sending an e-mail inresponse to the attribute selecting operation after selection of aname).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, detailed description will be made of embodiments in whichthe present invention is applied to a mobile telephone, which is atypical example of a mobile communication terminal, with reference tothe drawings.

<<First Embodiment>>

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile telephone100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the mobile telephone (referred to also as “mobilecommunication terminal” in some cases) 100 includes an antenna 201, awireless transmitter/receiver unit 202, a control unit 203, an operationmemory 204, a hold memory 205, an ID memory 206, an operation unit 207,a display unit 208, a microphone 209, and a speaker 210.

The control unit 203 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 200 forexecuting a program group stored in the operation memory 204 in advanceand hardware (not shown). Thus, the control unit 203 manages operationsof respective units of the mobile telephone 100 according to the programgroup executed by the CPU 200.

More specifically, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 performs a callalert when detecting a calling number to the mobile telephone 100 fromamong signals demodulated by the wireless transmitter/receiver unit 202.In addition, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 performs processing ofaudio signals and digital data signals, thereby realizing voicecommunications through the microphone 209 and the speaker 210 and datacommunications through an e-mail sending/receiving function, a serverconnection function, etc.

Upon executing the program group stored in the operation memory 204 inadvance, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 further performs search andretrieval on data stored in the operation memory 204, the hold memory205, and the ID memory 206, and computing processing regarding specifiedcriteria and Boolean expressions entered by a user.

The ID memory 206 holds a calling number (source number) to the mobiletelephone 100. In the control unit 203, the CPU 200 uses a callingnumber (source number) read out of the ID memory 206 for comparison withdata corresponding to a predetermined location in the demodulatedsignals.

The operation memory 204 is used for storing an operation program forthe CPU 200 of the control unit 203 and fixed data, and used as a workarea during the operation of the CPU 200.

The hold memory 205 holds user data. In this embodiment, the term “userdata” includes:

-   -   an e-mail received from the outside through the e-mail        sending/receiving function;    -   an e-mail created by a user;    -   an e-mail that has already sent; and    -   data registered by a user through an address book function.

Note that the operation memory 204, the hold memory 205, and the IDmemory 206 may have their portions provided in divided areas ofphysically the same device.

The operation unit 207 includes a key input unit that allows a user toinput information. The operation unit 207 is used for input of atelephone number upon making a call, input of text information uponaddress book registration, and input of various settings.

The display unit 208 includes a display panel represented by a liquidcrystal display. The display unit 208 performs display of a telephonenumber upon originating/receiving a call, synchronous display of variouscontents inputted by the operation unit 207, and display of the text ofe-mail contents received through the e-mail sending/receiving function.

The antenna 201 allows transmission/reception of a radio wave whosephase is modulated, and in addition, has the same function as an antennaof a known wireless communication terminal.

The wireless transmitter/receiver unit 202 performs demodulation of theradio wave received from the antenna 201, and phase modulation on adigital signal outputted from the control unit 203. Also, the wirelesstransmitter/receiver unit 202 has the same function as a wirelesstransmitter/receiver unit of a known wireless communication terminal.

A voice of a user is inputted to the microphone 209. The speaker 210outputs a voice (sound) toward a user.

Note that at present, general techniques may be adopted for operations,which are executed by the mobile telephone 100 having theabove-mentioned device configuration with respect to an external device,including a data sending/receiving processing and a voice processing.Accordingly, detailed description thereof is omitted in this embodiment.

Next, description will be made of a characteristic configuration of themobile telephone 100 according to this embodiment with reference toFIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a storage area structure of an address book10 stored in a hold memory 205 according to the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, a user can register a destination of anacquaintance or the like in the mobile telephone 100 along withattribute information ATTm, which will be described later, by operatingthe operation unit 207 during execution of the address book function.The address book function is provided to a user when the CPU 200executes a software program for realizing the address book function.

Herein, the term “destination” represents destination informationincluding a telephone number used for making a call and an e-mailaddress for sending an e-mail (the same applies hereinafter).

The CPU 200 dedicates a predetermined storage area (within a memoryspace) of the hold memory 205 to the address book 10 that isconceptually illustrated in FIG. 2. In other words, the address book 10is a storage area in which user data is registered through the addressbook function.

In the address book 10, it is possible to record, for each piece ofidentification information (ID), a plurality of telephone numbers, aplurality of e-mail addressees, and a plurality of attributes(hereinafter, referred to as “attribute information ATTm”).

In this embodiment, the identification information ID representsidentification information for specifying a counterpart (including aperson's name and a company's name) that can be either of a destinationof communication and a source of communication. Hereinafter, such acounterpart will be referred to as “communication counterpart”. In theexample shown in FIG. 2, the identification information ID is a person'sname “

(Taro Suzuki)” registered in a name field 20.

In each of data sections 11-1 to 11-n (where n is an integer of 2 orgreater, and an arbitrary number between 1 and n may be denoted by i;the same applies hereinafter) provided on an identification informationID basis, it is possible to record a plurality of telephone numbers, aplurality of e-mail addressees, and plural pieces of attributeinformation ATTm.

Note that the address book 10 is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 2as far as it is possible to record plural pieces of attributeinformation ATTm for each piece of identification information ID.

The data sections 11-1 to 11-n corresponding to respective pieces ofidentification information ID within the address book 10 each include:

-   -   the name field 20 where a piece of identification information ID        is recorded;    -   a pronunciation field 21;    -   telephone number fields 22-1 to 22-k (where k is an integer of 2        or greater, and an arbitrary number between 1 and k may be        denoted by i; the same applies hereinafter);    -   e-mail address fields 23-1 to 23-m (where m is an integer of 2        or greater, and an arbitrary number between 1 and m may be        denoted by i; the same applies hereinafter); and    -   attribute fields 24-1 to 24-p (where p is an integer of 2 or        greater, and an arbitrary number between 1 and p may be denoted        by i; the same applies hereinafter) where attribute information        ATTm is recorded.

Recorded in the name field 20 is a name of a person or companyregistered as a communication counterpart.

Recorded in the pronunciation field 21 is a pronunciation of the namerecorded in the name field 20. The pronunciation field 21 may bereferenced when, for example, the CPU 200 determines a display order ofthe data sections 11-1 to 11-n within the address book 10.

Recorded in each of the telephone number fields 22-1 to 22-k is atelephone number for originating a call or the like in order to make atelephone call to a communication counterpart registered in the namefield 20. There are cases where a plurality of telephone numbers (forexample, “home”, “parents' home”, “mobile telephone”, “company”, etc.)are to be registered for one communication counterpart (one piece ofidentification information ID). Therefore, a plurality of telephonenumber fields 22-1 to 22-k are preferably provided as the specificationsof the mobile telephone 100.

Recorded in each of the e-mail address fields 23-1 to 23-m is an e-mailaddress for sending an e-mail to a communication counterpart registeredin the name field 20. There are cases where a plurality of e-mailaddresses (for example, “home PC address”, “mobile telephone address”,“company address”, etc.) are to be registered for one communicationcounterpart (one piece of identification information ID). Therefore, aplurality of e-mail address fields 23-1 to 23-m are preferably providedas the specifications of the mobile telephone 100.

Note that in this embodiment, for suitable operation of the mobiletelephone 100, at least one telephone number has only to be registeredin the telephone number fields 22-1 to 22-k, or at least one e-mailaddress has only to be registered in the e-mail address fields 23-1 to23-m.

Recorded in each of the attribute fields 24-1 to 24-p is a piece ofattribute information ATTm of the communication counterpart. In thisembodiment, one piece of identification information ID within theaddress book 10 can be registered in association with at least one pieceof attribute information ATTm serving as information allowing a user toeasily specify (recognize) a communication counterpart that can beeither of a destination of communication and a source of communicationcorresponding to the identification information ID.

More specifically, the attribute information ATTm includescharacteristic strings such as “company relating”, “project team”,“design Gr.”, “inside department”, “client”, “partner company”,“private”, “friend”, “alumni”, “neighborhood association”, “clubactivity”, and “family/relative”. In an “attribute setting mode” towhich a mode transition can be made during the execution of the addressbook function, a user can freely set the attribute information ATTm byoperating the operation unit 207. Note that a concept of the attributeinformation ATTm is described later with reference to FIG. 3.

There are cases where plural pieces of attribute information ATTm are tobe registered for one name (one piece of identification information ID).Therefore, a plurality of attribute fields 24-1 to 24-p are preferablyprovided as the specifications of the mobile telephone 100.

Note that a user may register at least one group of telephone numbersand e-mail addresses as necessary. Also, the user may register at leastone of the telephone numbers and at least one of the e-mail addresses asnecessary.

Herein, in a “communication counterpart registration mode” to which amode transition can be made during the execution of the address bookfunction, a user performs an operation for registering a communicationcounterpart or the like for the address book 10 by operating theoperation unit 207 while referencing a display screen of the displayunit 208. Possible examples of the form of the display screen displayedon the display unit 208 at this time include a fixed format similar tothe data section 11-1 exemplified in FIG. 2. According to apredetermined operation performed by the user through the operation unit207, the CPU 200 registers, in the hold memory 205, each piece ofinformation entered in the name field 20 and the telephone number fields22-1 to 22-k in association with the attribute information ATTm enteredin the attribute fields 24-1 to 24-p.

Further, there are cases where an attribute, which reminds a userconceptually of a certain communication counterpart, contains anotherattribute or a given attribute partially contains another attribute.Relationships among attributes in such cases are described below.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the relationships amongattributes (attribute information ATTm) according to the firstembodiment. In the drawing, for example, an attribute A 50 represents“company relating”, an attribute B 51 “project team”, an attribute C 52“design Gr.”, an attribute D 53 “inside department”, an attribute E 54“private”, and an attribute F 55 “friend”.

The attribute A 50 contains the attribute B 51, the attribute C 52, andthe attribute D 53. Further, the attribute B 51 contains the attribute C52, and partially contains the attribute D 53.

Alternatively, although not shown, there is a possible case of belongingboth to “company relating” of the attribute A 50 and to “friend” of theattribute F 55. Specific examples thereof include a coworker employed bythe same company in the same year and a dormitory mate. Possibleexamples of a candidate who is assigned with only the attribute E 54include an acquaintance, a family member, and a relative.

As described above, there are cases where a plurality of attributes(that is, plural pieces of attribute information ATTm) are to beassociated with one communication counterpart (one piece ofidentification information ID). In such cases, in the above-mentioned“attribute setting mode”, a user of the mobile telephone 100 canarbitrarily set a state of overlaps and sets (that is, containmentrelationships) among those attributes.

As specific setting operations for such cases, the user may perform, forexample, the following input operations through the operation unit 207.

That is:

-   -   an input operation of “(attribute X)=>(attribute Y)” if        “attribute X” contains “attribute Y”;    -   an input operation of “(attribute X)=≠(attribute Y)” if        “attribute X” does not contain “attribute Y”;    -   an input operation of “(attribute X)=(attribute Y)×(attribute        Z)” if “attribute X” is an overlap between “attribute Y” and        “attribute Z”; and    -   an input operation of “(attribute X)=(attribute Y)+(attribute        Z)” if “attribute X” is “attribute Y” or “attribute Z”; may be        performed.

The mobile telephone 100 according to the first embodiment utilizes thestructure of the address book 10 and the registered attributeinformation ATTm, thereby improving convenience of an e-mail sendingoperation.

More specifically, in this embodiment, the mobile telephone (mobilecommunication terminal) 100 can make a mode transition to a“communication counterpart selection mode” in a state wherecommunication counterparts are registered in the address book 10 asshown in the example of FIG. 2. When a desired attribute is designatedby a user in the “communication counterpart selection mode”, the CPU 200retrieves a communication counterpart (identification information ID)associated with the attribute (attribute information ATTm) from theaddress book 10. In other words, the desired attribute designated by auser is used as a search key for a retrieval processing performed asdescribed above. Note that the desired attribute designated by a userneeds to be any of the attributes (attribute information ATTm) set inadvance in the “attribute setting mode”.

In the case of retrieving a plurality of communication counterparts inthe retrieval processing, the CPU 200 of the mobile telephone 100 cansend e-mails with identical contents at a time to e-mail addressesregistered in the data sections 11-1 to 11-n corresponding to therespective retrieved communication counterparts.

However, in conventional e-mail services utilizing mobile telephones,limitations may be imposed on the number of destination addresses towhich the e-mails with identical contents can be sent at a time inconsideration of every circumstance (for example, spam e-mails for thepurpose of an advertisement or a prank).

Therefore, in the e-mail sending processing (FIG. 4) described below,the mobile telephone 100 according to the first embodiment is made readyfor the cases where limitations are imposed on the number of destinationaddresses.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the e-mail sending processing performed on themobile telephone 100 according to the first embodiment. The flow chartshows a processing procedure of a software program executed by the CPU200 of the control unit 203 shown in FIG. 1.

In a state where the registration for the address book 10 is made inadvance in the above-mentioned “attribute setting mode” and“communication counterpart registration mode” as shown in FIG. 2, a userfirst uses the mobile telephone 100 to perform a creation operation fora body (contents) of an e-mail to be sent and a designation operationfor a destination address to which the user wishes to send the e-mail(step ST1). In the case where the user wishes to send e-mails withidentical contents to a plurality of communication counterparts(destination addresses) upon the designation operation for a destinationaddress of step ST1, an attribute set in advance in the address book 10can be designated in the above-mentioned “communication counterpartselection mode”.

In the control unit 203, the CPU 200 then judges whether or not anattribute has been designated (step ST2).

If the judgment of step ST2 shows that there is no designated attributeand if the number of e-mail addresses of destination of communication iswithin a predetermined number N, the CPU 200 sends an e-mail through thewireless transmitter/receiver unit 202 to the destination address thatis designated by the user's input operation for a name or an e-mailaddress in step ST1 (step ST3).

Note that at present, a general procedure may be adopted for the e-mailsending processing performed after the destination of communication isspecified in step ST3. Accordingly, detailed description thereof isomitted in this embodiment.

On the other hand, if a designated attribute is detected in step ST2,the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 executes a processing of step ST4.That is, the CPU 200 searches the data sections 11-1 to 11-n of theaddress book 10 in step ST4. As a result of the search, the CPU 200retrieves a name 20 (identification information ID) associated with thesame attribute information ATTm (in the attribute fields 24-1 to 24-p)as the attribute designated by the user in step ST1.

In step ST4, the CPU 200 further retrieves an e-mail address associatedwith the retrieved name 20.

Here, there is a case where a plurality of e-mail addresses areregistered in association with one name 20 that is associated with thesame attribute information ATTm as the designated attribute as shown inFIG. 2. In such a case, in step ST4, the CPU 200 retrieves an e-mailaddress registered in the first field (in the e-mail address field 23-1)as the destination of communication with the highest priority.Alternatively, the adopted configuration may allow a user to select, orregister in advance, which of a plurality of registered e-mail addressesis to be retrieved as the destination of communication.

In the control unit 203, the CPU 200 then judges whether or not thenumber of e-mail addresses retrieved in step ST4 is within apredetermined number N permitted for e-mails to be sent at a time (stepST5).

If the judgment of step ST5 shows that the number of e-mail addresses assending targets is within the predetermined number N permitted fore-mails to be sent at a time, the CPU 200 sends e-mails with identicalcontents through the wireless transmitter/receiver unit 202 to all thee-mail addresses as the sending targets (step ST6).

Note that at present, a general procedure may be adopted for the e-mailsending processing performed after the destination of communication isspecified in step ST6. Accordingly, detailed description thereof isomitted in this embodiment.

On the other hand, if the judgment of step ST5 shows that the number ofe-mail addresses as sending targets exceeds the predetermined number Npermitted for e-mails to be sent at a time, the CPU 200 executes stepsST7 and ST8 as follows.

The CPU 200 first sends e-mails through the wirelesstransmitter/receiver unit 202 to the predetermined number N of e-mailaddresses from among all the e-mail addresses retrieved in step ST4(step ST7).

Note that at present, a general procedure may be adopted for the e-mailsending processing performed after the destination of communication isspecified in step ST7. Accordingly, detailed description thereof isomitted in this embodiment.

Subsequently, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 excludes the e-mailaddresses that have been sent by the processing of step ST7 from thesending targets (step ST8). Then, the CPU 200 sets the e-mail addressesremaining as the sending targets to new sending targets to be processed,and repeats the processings of steps ST5 to ST8. If the number of e-mailaddresses as sending targets becomes equal to or less than thepredetermined number N permitted for e-mails to be sent at a time afterrepeating a series of the above-mentioned processings, the CPU 200performs the last sending processing to the e-mail addresses whosenumber is N or less (step ST6).

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the CPU 200executes the above-mentioned e-mail sending processing, therebyrealizing the processing for sending e-mails with identical contents toat least one target communication counterpart associated with a givenattribute (attribute information ATTm). The e-mail sending processingfurther realizes readiness for the cases where the number of destinationaddresses of the e-mails with identical contents to be sent at a time islimited to a predetermined number under the constraints of the system.

In other words, by using the mobile telephone 100 according to the firstembodiment, a user does not need to individually set specific names ore-mail addresses of a plurality of destinations of communication in thecase of sending the e-mails with identical contents to a plurality ofcommunication counterparts. Accordingly, the operability is furtherimproved for a user.

(Modification of the First Embodiment)

In this modification of the first embodiment, when a user designates anattribute in step ST1 described above, a plurality of attributes can bedesignated through the operation of the operation unit 207. In thiscase, designation of a logical operator (for an AND (logical product)condition, an OR (logical sum) condition, a NOT (logical NOT) condition,or the like) is performed on the plurality of attributes designated instep ST1. Such a designation operation may be performed by inputtingtext information representing the logical operator such as “AND”, “OR”,or “NOT” or by inputting a predetermined symbol (such as ×, +, or ≠). Bysuch a configuration as to allow the above-mentioned designationoperation to be set in step ST1, the mobile telephone 100 enhances itsoperability in the case of sending e-mails with identical contents to aplurality of destinations of communication.

Hereinafter, description will be made of a specific example ofdesignation of the plurality of attributes by use of the logicaloperator as described above. Consideration will be made of an examplecase where the attribute B and the attribute D represent “project team”and “inside department”, respectively, in the example of FIG. 3. In thiscase, the user designates the attribute B and the attribute D under theAND condition in step ST1, so that the CPU 200 sends e-mails withidentical contents only to the“project team” members “inside department”concerned.

Consideration will be made of an alternative example case where theattribute A and the attribute E represent “company relating” and“private”, respectively. In this case, the user designates the attributeA and the attribute E under the OR condition in step ST1, so that theCPU 200 sends e-mails with identical contents to all the “companyrelating” counterparts or to all the counterparts corresponding to“private”.

<<Second Embodiment>>

Next, description will be mainly made of a second embodiment whose basisis on the mobile telephone 100 according to the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, description will be mainly made of characteristic part ofthis embodiment, and the overlapping description of the sameconfiguration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the following functions are added to the mobiletelephone 100 of the first embodiment. That is, in the above-describedfirst embodiment, the description has been made of the mobile telephone100 having characteristics in the processing for sending e-mails withidentical contents to a plurality of destination addresses, while in thesecond embodiment, description will be made of the mobile telephone 100having the above configuration along with characteristics in aprocessing of receiving an e-mail from the outside.

According to this embodiment, if the single attribute A completelycontains the other attribute D, for example, in the relationships amongattributes shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 200 associates the attribute D withthe attribute A when a user designates the attribute D. Morespecifically, the attribute D representing “inside department” is alwaysassociated with the attribute A representing “company relating”.

Hereinafter, description will be made of a specific configuration thatrealizes the above-mentioned associating operation. FIG. 5 is a diagramin which the relationships among the attributes exemplified in FIG. 3are expressed in the form of a folder structure (directory structure) ofan e-mail inbox according to the second embodiment. In this embodiment,the term “folder” represents a storage area for categorizing and storingat least incoming e-mails. The storage area is allocated within the holdmemory 205 of the mobile telephone 100. Each folder, functioning as aman-machine interface, can be visually recognized by a user on thedisplay unit 208 and can be operated through the operation unit 207.

As shown in FIG. 5, folders of an e-mail inbox are created for eachattribute and each hierarchical level. An incoming e-mail received bythe mobile telephone 100 is stored in the e-mail inbox allocated withinthe hold memory 205. Each characteristic string enclosed in a squareshown in FIG. 5 represents a folder. The hierarchical structure of thefolders is determined by the CPU 200 based on the containmentrelationships among attributes set by a user. A setting operation forthe hierarchical structure of the folders is performed by a user throughthe operation unit 207 after the setting operation in the “attributesetting mode” is performed as described above.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an e-mail receiving processing performed on themobile telephone 100 according to the second embodiment. This flow chartshows a processing procedure of a software program executed by the CPU200 of the control unit 203 shown in FIG. 1.

In the drawing, upon receiving an e-mail (step ST11), the CPU 200 of thecontrol unit 203 extracts an e-mail address of the incoming e-mail (stepST12).

Then, the CPU 200 judges whether or not the same e-mail address as theextracted e-mail address exists in any of the data sections 11-1 to 11-nthat are already registered in the address book 10 (step ST13).

If the judgment of step ST12 shows that the same e-mail address exists,the CPU 200 retrieves attribute information ATTm associated withidentification information ID (in the name field 20) of the one of thedata sections 11-1 to 11-n in which the e-mail address is registered(step ST14).

If the attribute information ATTm can be retrieved in step ST14 (stepST15), the CPU 200 stores the incoming e-mail in a folder of the e-mailinbox corresponding to the retrieved attribute (step ST16).

In other words, in this embodiment, the e-mail inbox having a folderstructure corresponding to the containment relationships and embeddedrelationships among attributes is allocated within the hold memory 205.The CPU 200 automatically allocates an incoming e-mail to a storagedestination based on the attribute corresponding to a source address ofthe incoming e-mail.

According to the above embodiment, it becomes easy to organize andretrieve incoming e-mails. Therefore, in addition to the conveniencedescribed in the first embodiment, the convenience is further improvedfor a user. More specifically, in addition to a business-related folderand a private folder, the user can freely create folders based on theattributes registered in the address book 10 in advance. Accordingly,such a folder structure desired by the user is allocated within the holdmemory 205, so that an incoming e-mail is automatically allocated to andrecorded in a folder optimum for the user.

Note that there are cases where plural pieces of attribute informationATTm are registered in one of the data sections 11-1 to 11-ncorresponding to a given name in the name field 20 (identificationinformation ID). In such cases, priorities are put to respectiveattributes in advance so that an incoming e-mail from the e-mail addressassociated with the name is stored in a folder corresponding to anattribute with a higher priority.

Alternatively, another configuration may be adopted for the above cases,in which the entity of a data file of the incoming e-mail is stored onlyin a folder corresponding to a given single attribute and its shortcutsare placed in folders corresponding to other attributes, so that thedata file of the incoming e-mail can be accessed via a plurality ofpaths.

Note that another device configuration may be assumed, in which thee-mail inbox according to this embodiment is replaced with an e-mailoutbox for storing e-mails to be sent and the e-mail address of a sourceof communication is replaced with an e-mail address of a destination ofcommunication. According to such a device configuration, attributeinformation can be utilized for storing outgoing e-mails similarly tothis embodiment dedicated to the incoming e-mails.

<<Third Embodiment>>

Next, description will be mainly made of a third embodiment whose basisis on the mobile telephone 100 of the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, the description will be mainly made of characteristic partof this embodiment, and the overlapping description of the sameconfiguration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted.

In recent years, there is established a technique for exchanging namecard information (profile information) converted in an electronic formatbetween mobile telephones in a wireless communication system such as oneusing infrared rays. In this embodiment, this technique is utilized torealize simple maintenance of registration information within theaddress book 10 which is performed between a plurality of mobiletelephones 101.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobiletelephone 101 according to the third embodiment of the presentinvention. The mobile telephone 101 according to the third embodiment ofthe present invention includes the same structural components as thoseof the mobile telephone (mobile communication terminal) 100 as describedabove in FIG. 1, and further includes an infrared communication unit 601and an infrared emitter/receiver 602.

The infrared communication unit 601 modulates/demodulates a digitalsignal in infrared communications. The infrared communication unit 601performs start-stop synchronization in serial communications with thecontrol unit 203. The infrared communication unit 601 sends/receives ademodulated signal to/from the infrared emitter/receiver 602.

The infrared emitter/receiver 602 performs transmission/reception ofinfrared rays to/from another terminal and conversion between anelectrical signal and a light signal.

In the mobile telephone 101 according to this embodiment, the addressbook function is used, so that user's own profile information can beregistered as one of the data sections 11-1 to 11-n described above withreference to FIG. 2.

In such a device configuration as described above, the mobile telephone101 exchanges the user's own profile information with another terminalhaving the same device configuration as that of the mobile telephone101. Accordingly, the mobile telephone 101 can record profileinformation received from the counterpart in one of the data sections11-1 to 11-n of the address book 10 of the user's own terminal. Notethat the profile information includes at least respective informationitems (that is, a name, a telephone number, an e-mail address, andattribute information ATTm) composing one of the data sections 11-1 to11-n described above with reference to FIG. 2.

More specifically, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 records otherparty's profile information, which is obtained by performing a profileexchange through infrared communications, in one of the data sections11-1 to 11-n within the address book 10 of a user's own device as a newrecord. At this time, the CPU 200 stores, in one of the attribute fields24-1 to 24-p of one of the data sections 11-1 to 11-n, a predeterminedattribute information indicating that the record is data obtained fromanother terminal by performing the profile exchange. In the mobiletelephone 101, the attribute information stored in one of the attributefields 24-1 to 24-p here is recognized as one piece of attributeinformation ATTm described in the first embodiment.

In other words, in the case of obtaining information from an externaldevice through a profile exchange, a predetermined attribute based onwhich the CPU 200 can judge that the information is the profileinformation obtained through a profile exchange is registered in any oneof the attribute fields 24-1 to 24-p of one of the data sections 11-1 to11-n in which the information is to be stored. In this embodiment, thepredetermined attribute information is used as one of the plural piecesof attribute information ATTm.

In the case where the user's own profile information is updated in theuser's own terminal, the mobile telephone 101 having such a profileexchange function provides the updated profile information to anotherterminal (another mobile telephone 101) with which the profile exchangehas been performed before through infrared communications.

More specifically, in the mobile telephone 101 in which the user'sprofile information has been updated, the CPU 200 searches the attributefields 24-1 to 24-p of the respective data sections 11-1 to 11-n byusing as a search key the predetermined attribute information indicatingthat a record is data obtained before from another terminal byperforming a profile exchange.

If the desired attribute information ATTm can be retrieved by theretrieval processing, the CPU 200 of the mobile telephone 101automatically retrieves an e-mail address included in a specific datasection 11-n in which the attribute information ATTm is registered. Inother words, in the specific data section 11-n, the attributeinformation ATTm indicating that a profile exchange has been performedbefore is associated with identification information ID (the name of acommunication counterpart stored in the name field 20) of the datasection 11-n similarly to the first embodiment. Also registered in thedata section 11-n is an e-mail address with which the communicationcounterpart represented by the identification information ID can becontacted by e-mail communications. Accordingly, the CPU 200 reads thee-mail address out of the data section 11-n.

Then, the mobile telephone 101 sends an e-mail notifying that theprofile information has been updated to the communication counterpart'se-mail address retrieved as described above automatically or based onthe operation by a user. Upon sending the e-mail, the CPU 200 attachesthe updated user's profile information to the e-mail.

Note that in order to improve the convenience for a user, it ispreferable that the e-mail be created in a predetermined format andsent, automatically.

Next, description will be made of an operation of the mobile telephone101 as the other terminal that receives the above e-mail attached withthe updated profile information.

That is, in the case of receiving the e-mail, the CPU 200 of the controlunit 203 replaces profile information that is already recorded in aspecific data section 11-n within the address book 10 of the otherterminal with the updated profile information attached to the e-mail. Inthis case, the CPU 200 can easily judge the correspondence between theprofile information stored in the specific data section 11-n and thereceived updated profile information by comparing the e-mail addresses(in the e-mail address fields 23-1 to 23-m), the name (in the name field20), and the attribute information ATTm indicating that a profileexchange has been performed before.

According to the mobile telephone 101 of the third embodiment describedabove, an operation for sending a notification (for example, a personnelchange notice or a change-of-address notice), which takes a user muchtime and labor, can be automatically performed if the profile exchangeis performed in advance. Thus, the mobile telephone 101 further enhancesits convenience.

<<Fourth Embodiment>>

Next, description will be mainly made of a fourth embodiment whose basisis on the mobile telephone 100 according to the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, the description will be mainly made of characteristic partof this embodiment, and the overlapping description of the sameconfiguration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted.

Note that the device configuration of a mobile telephone according tothis embodiment is the same as the device configuration of the mobiletelephone 100 shown in FIG. 1 (which may be the mobile telephone 101).

FIG. 8 shows an example of a storage area structure of an address book30 stored in the hold memory 205 according to the fourth embodiment.

In the address book 10 according to the first embodiment, at least onepiece of attribute information ATTm is associated with each of the datasections 11-1 to 11-n as the information that allows a user to easilyspecify (recognize) a communication counterpart that can be either of adestination of communication and a source of communication. On the otherhand, in the address book 30 according to this embodiment, attributeinformation ATTc can be associated with each of data sections 31-1 to31-n.

More specifically, in each of the data sections 31-1 to 31-n of theaddress book 30, the telephone number fields 22-1 to 22-k have attributefields 41-1 to 41-k, respectively. Also, the e-mail address fields 23-1to 23-m have attribute fields 42-1 to 42-m, respectively. By operatingthe operation unit 207, a user can set the attribute information ATTc inthe attribute fields 41-1 to 41-k and 42-1 to 42-m. According to thesetting operation, the CPU 200 performs registrations for each of thedata sections 31-1 to 31-n such that a given e-mail address inassociation with a given piece of attribute information ATTc.

Note that the term “attribute information ATTc” represents informationthat allows a user to easily specify each destination such as atelephone number or an e-mail address. More specifically, there arecases where a user wishes to register a plurality of telephone numbersallowing a telephone call for a given single communication counterpart.In such cases, according to this embodiment, in order to specify theplurality of telephone numbers with ease, as shown in FIG. 8, the usercan register information such as “mobile telephone”, “home”, or“company”, as the attribute information ATTc, for each telephone number(the same applies to each e-mail address).

As described above, in the address book 30, each telephone number andeach e-mail address can be associated with the attribute informationATTc.

After that, in this embodiment, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203executes a processing shown in flow charts of FIGS. 9 and 10.

In this embodiment, in the case where a user wishes to send e-mails withidentical contents to a plurality of communication counterparts, theuser first designates a desired piece of attribute information ATTc (forexample, “home”) in the “communication counterpart selection mode”.Accordingly, even if a plurality of e-mail addresses are registered fora given single communication counterpart, the CPU 200 of the controlunit 203 can automatically select an e-mail address intended by theuser.

Note that the pieces of attribute information ATTc, which areindividually assigned to each of telephone numbers and e-mail addressesin the data sections 31-1 to 31-n of the address book 30, are notlimited to arbitrary attributes set by a user. For example, the deviceconfiguration may be adapted such that predetermined attributes such as“home”, “company”, and “mobile telephone” are registered within themobile telephone 100 in advance so as to be selected as the attributeinformation ATTc. Alternatively, the device configuration may be adaptedso as to realize a combination of the configuration in which the desiredattributes can be registered by a user in advance and the configurationin which the predetermined attributes can be registered in advance asthe standard specifications.

Hereinafter, description will be made of an operation according to thisembodiment with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are each a flow chart of an e-mail sending processingperformed on the mobile telephone 100 according to the fourth embodimentalong with an operation procedure for a user. The flow charts each showa processing procedure of a software program executed by the CPU 200 ofthe control unit 203 shown in FIG. 1.

First, FIG. 9 is referenced for describing the processing procedure forsending an e-mail in response to the attribute selecting operationperformed by a user.

In this case, a user selects whether an e-mail is to be sent or atelephone call is to be originated (step Sa1). Herein, the selection ismade of the e-mail sending.

The user further selects an attribute representing a destination addressof a communication counterpart to which the user wishes to send ane-mail (step Sa2). More specifically, instep Sa2, the CPU 200 displays,on the display unit 208, plural pieces of attribute information ATTcfrom which the user can select one as the attribute representing adestination address of a communication counterpart to which the userwishes to send an e-mail. The pieces of attribute information ATTcdisplayed here as selection options include attributes set in advance inthe “attribute setting mode” such as “mobile telephone”, “home”, and“company”. By operating the operation unit 207, the user selects, fromthe plural pieces of attribute information ATTc, a desired one that theuser considers to represent the communication counterpart to which theuser wishes to send an e-mail.

It is noted that a selecting operation for attribute information ATTcperformed in step Sa2 includes a case of selecting a plurality ofattributes by using a Boolean expression as well.

Subsequently, the CPU 200 of the control unit 203 first searches thedata sections 31-1 to 31-n of the address book 30 to thereby specifyidentification information ID associated with the piece of attributeinformation ATTc selected in step Sa2. Then, the CPU 200 displays a nameregistered in the name field 20 as the identification information ID onthe display unit 208 (step Sa3). In the case where the piece ofattribute information ATTc is associated with the plurality ofcommunication counterparts in the address book 30, a plurality of namesof candidates for communication counterparts for e-mail sending aredisplayed in step Sa3.

Then, the user uses the operation unit 207 to select a name of thecommunication counterpart to which the user wishes to send an e-mail(step Sa4). In the case of sending e-mails with identical contents to aplurality of communication counterparts, the user may select a desiredone from the plurality of names being displayed in step Sa4.

The CPU 200 of the control unit 203 references one of the data sections31-1 to 31-n, in which the name (communication counterpart) selected instep Sa4 is registered, to thereby select an e-mail address associatedwith the piece of attribute information ATTc selected in advance in stepSa2 (step Sa5).

Subsequently, the user uses the operation unit 207 to prepare contentsthat the user wishes to send in an e-mail format, and performs apredetermined operation to temporarily store the prepared contents (textinformation or the like) within the hold memory 205 (step Sa6). Afterthat, the user gives a predetermined sending instruction in order tosend the temporarily stored contents by e-mail (step Sa7).

In response to the operation performed by the user in Sa7, the CPU 200sends e-mails with identical contents to e-mail addresses selected abovein step Sa5 (step Sa8).

Accordingly, in the mobile telephone 100 according to this embodiment,the attribute information ATTc representing the destination of acommunication counterpart can be registered in each of the data sections31-1 to 31-n of the address book 30 in association with each e-mailaddress.

According to the above e-mail sending processing (FIG. 9), even if aplurality of e-mail addresses are registered in the address book 30 forone name (one of the data sections 31-1 to 31-n), a user utilizes theattribute information ATTc associated with individual e-mail addresses,thereby making it possible to select a suitable e-mail address by asimple operation without fail.

Next, FIG. 10 is referenced for describing the processing procedure forsending an e-mail in response to the attribute selecting operationperformed after selection of a name of a communication counterpart by auser.

Similarly to step Sa1, a user selects whether an e-mail is to be sent ora telephone call is to be originated (step Sb1) Herein, the selection ismade of the e-mail sending.

At this time, the CPU 200 references the address book 30 to therebycause the names of communication counterparts registered in the namefields 20 of the data sections 31-1 to 31-n to be displayed on thedisplay unit 208 as a list. Then, the user selects the name of acommunication counterpart to which the user wishes to send an e-mailfrom the displayed list (step Sb2).

The CPU 200 of the control unit 203 searches the address book 30 tothereby specify one of the data sections 31-1 to 31-n in which the name(identification information ID) selected in step Sb2. Then, the CPU 200displays pieces of attribute information ATTc associated with all e-mailaddresses within the one of the data sections 31-1 to 31-n on thedisplay unit 208 (step Sb3). In other words, in step Sb3, in the casewhere a plurality of e-mail addresses are registered in the one of thedata sections 31-1 to 31-n, the display is made of all the pieces ofattribute information ATTc (such as “company”, “home”, and “mobiletelephone”) associated with the individual e-mail addresses.

The user then selects, from all the displayed pieces of attributeinformation ATTc, a piece of attribute information ATTc that the userconsiders to represent a destination address to which the user wishes tosend an e-mail (step Sb4).

The control unit 203 selects the e-mail address of the selected name,the address being associated with the attribute (step Sb5).

The user uses the operation unit 207 to prepare contents that the userwishes to send in an e-mail format, and performs the predeterminedoperation to temporarily store the prepared contents (text informationor the like) within the hold memory 205 (step Sb6). After that, the usergives the predetermined sending instruction in order to send thetemporarily stored contents by e-mail (step Sb7).

In response to the operation performed by the user in Sb7, the CPU 200sends an e-mail to the e-mail address selected above in step Sb5 (stepSb8).

According to the above e-mail sending processing (FIG. 10), even if aplurality of e-mail addresses are registered for one name (one of thedata sections 31-1 to 31-n), a user performs the selecting operation forthe attribute information ATTc associated with individual e-mailaddresses, thereby making it possible to select a suitable e-mailaddress by a simple operation without fail.

That is, even if the user forgets the relationships between e-mailaddresses and names (identification information ID) that are registeredin the address book 30, a suitable e-mail address can be selected withease by designating a piece of attribute information ATTc that the userconsiders to represent a destination address to which the user wishes tosend an e-mail.

(Modification 1 of the Fourth Embodiment)

In Modification 1 of the fourth embodiment, an e-mail address ortelephone number is retrieved by a configuration in which selectionthereof can be made by a user by using, as search conditions,information including a sex and an address registered in the addressbook 30 (FIG. 8) as well as the attribute information ATTc. According tothe modification 1, the operability is further improved for a user.

(Modification 2 of the Fourth Embodiment)

Alternatively, in Modification 2 of the fourth embodiment, theidentification information ID and at least one piece of attributeinformation ATTm can be registered in the address book 30 shown in FIG.8 in association with each other. In this modification, the address book30 having data associated with the attribute information ATTm isreferred to as an address book 30A (not shown). Also, the address book30A is composed of a plurality of data sections 31A. As described abovein the first embodiment, the attribute information ATTm is theinformation (including “company”, “project team”, and “friend”) thatallows a user to easily specify a communication counterpart that can beeither of a destination of communication and a source of communication.

In the modification 2, upon the retrieval of an e-mail address ortelephone number, the CPU 200 first utilizes the attribute informationATTm (first attribute information) to perform the retrieval processingsimilarly to the first embodiment, thereby retrieving a data sectioncorresponding to the attribute information ATTm from the plurality ofdata sections 31A within the address book 30A. Herein, the retrieveddata section 31A can be obtained, for example, as the identificationinformation ID that can specify the individual data sections.

Then, the CPU 200 performs a retrieval processing, which utilizes theattribute information ATTc (second attribute information) similarly tothe fourth embodiment, on only the data sections 31A retrieved throughthe retrieval processing based on the attribute information ATTm.

According to the modification 2, even if a large number of data sections31A for communication counterparts are registered in the address book30A, it is possible to reduce required time taken for retrieving adestination (e-mail address or telephone number) suitable for a usercompared with that in the fourth embodiment utilizing only the attributeinformation ATTc. Accordingly, the operability is further improved for auser.

As described above, according to the respective embodiments and theirmodifications, it is possible to register plural pieces of attributeinformation (ATTm and ATTc) in the data sections 11-1 to 11-n and 31-1to 31-n, respectively, which are allocated for each piece ofidentification information ID indicating either of a destination ofcommunication and a source of communication. Accordingly, by utilizingthe attribute information in association with other information withinthe same data section, the operability can be improved for a user incommunication functions of a mobile telephone.

Note that in the above respective embodiments, the description has beenmade of the cases of applying the present invention to a mobiletelephone. However, the present invention is not limited to the mobiletelephone, and may be preferably applied to a mobile communicationterminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance).

Further, the present invention is not limited to the mobilecommunication terminal, and in the case of being applied to aninformation processor (for example, a personal computer) having a wirecommunication function, the operability can be improved for a usersubstantially in the same manner as the above respective embodiments.

According to the respective embodiments as have been described above, byutilizing pieces of identification information indicating either of adestination of communication and a source of communication and pluralpieces of attribute information registered in association with for eachof the pieces of identification information, the operability can beimproved for a user in the communication functions provided to a mobilecommunication terminal.

While this invention has been described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the subject matterencompassed by way of this invention is not to be limited to thosespecific embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended for the subjectmatter of the invention to include all alternative, modification andequivalents as can be included within the spirit and scope of thefollowing claims.

1. A mobile communication terminal which is used for making a telephonecall to a telephone number or sending an email to an e-mail address, thetelephone number and the email address each being selected by a user asa destination for a desired communication counterpart from a storagearea storing at least one of the telephone number and the e-mailaddress, the mobile communication terminal comprising: input meansallowing the user to input: identification information representing acommunication counterpart that can be at least one of a destination ofcommunication and a source of communication, attribute informationallowing the user to specify the communication counterpart, and at leastone of the telephone number and the e-mail address as the destinationfor the communication counterpart; storage means for storing theidentification information, the attribute information, and at least oneof the telephone number and the e-mail address, which are inputtedthrough said input means, in the storage area in association with oneanother; and communication control means for, by searching the storagearea based on one of the attribute information inputted by the user,retrieving the identification information associated with the inputtedattribute information, and setting one of the telephone number and thee-mail address, which is associated with the retrieved identificationinformation, as the destination of communication, wherein: said storagemeans capable of storing, as profile information of the user who usesthe mobile communication terminal, the identification informationrepresenting the user and at least one of the telephone number and thee-mail address as the destination for the user in association with eachother; the mobile communication terminal further comprises profileexchanging means for exchanging profile information with an externaldevice; and in response to obtaining the profile information of anotherparty from the external device, said storage means further stores, inthe storage area, the profile information of the other party inassociation with a predetermined piece of the attribute informationindicating that the profile information has been obtained by saidprofile exchanging means.
 2. The mobile communication terminal accordingto claim 1, wherein, in response to updating the profile information ofthe user, said profile exchanging means, by searching the storage areawith the predetermined piece of the attribute information being used asa search key, specifies the profile information of the other partyassociated with the predetermined piece of the attribute information,and sends the updated profile information of the user to the e-mailaddress included in the profile information of the other party.
 3. Themobile communication terminal according to claim 2, wherein, when theprofile information of the other party is obtained from the externaldevice, in a case where the profile information of the other party hasalready been stored in the storage area, the storage means updates thealready stored profile information into the updated profile information.4. A mobile communication terminal comprising: storage means forstoring, in a storage area, i) first profile information of acommunication counterpart, which first profile information includesidentification information representing the communication counterpart,attribute information to specify the communication counterpart and ane-mail address as destination information of the communicationcounterpart, and ii) second profile information of the user who uses themobile communication terminal, which second profile information includesthe identification information representing the user and at least one ofa user telephone number and a user e-mail address as the destinationinformation of the user; communication control means for, by searchingthe first profile information stored in the storage area based On one ofthe attribute information specified, retrieving the identificationinformation associated with the specified attribute information, andsetting the email address, which is associated with the retrievedidentification information, as the destination of communication; andprofile exchanging means for exchanging the second profile informationwith an external device, wherein, in response to obtaining the secondprofile information of another party from the external device, saidstorage means further stores the second profile information of theanother party as the first profile information in the storage area inassociation with a predetermined piece of the attribute informationindicating that the first profile information has been obtained by saidprofile exchanging means.
 5. The mobile communication terminal accordingto claim 4, wherein, said profile exchanging means includes an infraredcommunication unit for communicating with another mobile communicationterminal by using infrared rays.
 6. The mobile communication terminalaccording to claim 4, wherein, in response to updating the secondprofile information, said communication control means, by searching thefirst profile information stored in the storage area with thepredetermined piece of the attribute information being used as a searchkey, retrieves the first profile information associated with thepredetermined piece of the attribute information, and sends an e-mailwith the updated second profile information to the e-mail addressincluded in the first profile information having been retrieved.
 7. Themobile communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein, said e-mailis created by the communication control means in a predetermined formatwhich indicates the second profile information has been updated.
 8. Themobile communication terminal according to claim 7, wherein, when saide-mail with the updated second profile information is received, saidstorage means replaces the first profile information having been storedin the storage area by the updated second profile information of theother party contained in the received e-mail.
 9. A selection method forcommunication counterpart information to be used by a mobilecommunication terminal, which has a storage area for storing firstprofile information of a communication counterpart, which includesidentification information representing the communication counterpart,attribute information to specify the communication counterpart and thee-mail address as destination information of the communicationcounterpart, and second profile information of the user who uses themobile communication terminal, which includes the identificationinformation representing the user and at least one of the telephonenumber and the email address as the destination information of the user,the method comprising: exchanging the second profile information withanother party through profile exchanging means which includes aninfrared communication unit for communicating with another mobilecommunication terminal by using infrared rays; storing the secondprofile information of the another party as the first profileinformation in the storage area in association with a predeterminedpiece of the attribute information indicating that the first profileinformation has been obtained through said profile exchanging means; andselecting communication counterpart information by searching the firstprofile information stored in the storage area based on one of theattribute information specified, retrieving the identificationinformation associated with the specified attribute information, andsetting the e-mail address, which is associated with the retrievedidentification information, as the destination of communication.
 10. Theselection method for communication counterpart information according toclaim 9, wherein, when the second profile information is updated, themethod further comprises: searching the first profile information storedin the storage area with the predetermined piece of the attributeinformation being used as a search key; retrieving the first profileinformation associated with the predetermined piece of the attributeinformation; creating an email having a predetermined format whichindicates the second profile information has been updated; and sendingthe e-mail with the updated second profile information to the e-mailaddress included in the first profile information having been retrieved.11. The selection method for communication counterpart informationaccording to claim 10, wherein, when the e-mail with the updated secondprofile information is received, the method further comprises: replacingthe first profile information having been stored in the storage area bythe updated second profile information of the other party contained inthe received email.